NJTRailfan wrote:Dangerous Boy, Hope it happens. But electrification must come sooner so that they can make room for all those new trainsets comming in. Plus Mt Arlington and Lake Hopatcong along with the surrounding areas can use the weekend/direct service to NYP.

If they ever electrified to Port Morris, the usage of the Mt. Arlington parking lot would skyrocket.

NJTRailfan wrote:Dangerous Boy, Hope it happens. But electrification must come sooner so that they can make room for all those new trainsets comming in. Plus Mt Arlington and Lake Hopatcong along with the surrounding areas can use the weekend/direct service to NYP.

If they ever electrified to Port Morris, the usage of the Mt. Arlington parking lot would skyrocket.

NJTRailfan wrote:Dangerous Boy, Hope it happens. But electrification must come sooner so that they can make room for all those new trainsets comming in. Plus Mt Arlington and Lake Hopatcong along with the surrounding areas can use the weekend/direct service to NYP.

If they ever electrified to Port Morris, the usage of the Mt. Arlington parking lot would skyrocket.

Yup, and we'd have to watch out for wingèd pigs. (Thought the ALP-45DP is supposed to make extending the wires moot, as well?)

NJTRailfan wrote:Dangerous Boy, Hope it happens. But electrification must come sooner so that they can make room for all those new trainsets comming in. Plus Mt Arlington and Lake Hopatcong along with the surrounding areas can use the weekend/direct service to NYP.

If they ever electrified to Port Morris, the usage of the Mt. Arlington parking lot would skyrocket.

I'd be willing to bet this will happen sooner than we think.

I'm pessimistic about any extension of wire since the new dual modes are supposed to make them unecessary. Only after they fail to live up to expectations will it be considered.

some comments..1. I heard Sarles say that no wire extensions are necessary with dual modes coming! he said this on newschannel 12 last year.2. So whats the deal with dual modes? have they gone out to contract yet?3. My own gut is, mount arlington will get weekend service when the first phase of the cutoff to Andover opens. I say this because Andover will be using the dual modes and it would fit in nicely..so how long? whenever andover opens..and thats in the plans now....

Gotta look at it this way - straight electric operations are NOT going away, and are going to expand in the sense that they are getting more ALP46s, even if the entire diesel fleet were to be replaced by dual modes - there is still going to be a need for yard space for ELECTRIC trains - MUs, or ALP powered - doesn't matter, but ALP powered trains are less flexible when it comes to yard and track space.

An extension of the wire to Port Morris would allow for a MUCH needed increase in yard space for Electric Trains. Dover Yard is bursting at the seems, as are the other yards that host electric trains, Morrisville comes to mind - 18 plus yard tracks and it still hard to move in there.

On the RR, "believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see"John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.

NJTRailfan wrote:Dangerous Boy, Hope it happens. But electrification must come sooner so that they can make room for all those new trainsets comming in. Plus Mt Arlington and Lake Hopatcong along with the surrounding areas can use the weekend/direct service to NYP.

If they ever electrified to Port Morris, the usage of the Mt. Arlington parking lot would skyrocket.

Yup, and we'd have to watch out for wingèd pigs. (Thought the ALP-45DP is supposed to make extending the wires moot, as well?)

northjerseybuff wrote:3. My own gut is, mount arlington will get weekend service when the first phase of the cutoff to Andover opens. I say this because Andover will be using the dual modes and it would fit in nicely..so how long? whenever andover opens..and thats in the plans now....

Who says that Andover service will be using the dual modes and why do you assume that Andover will get weekend service as soon as it opens?

Jtgshu wrote:Gotta look at it this way - straight electric operations are NOT going away, and are going to expand in the sense that they are getting more ALP46s, even if the entire diesel fleet were to be replaced by dual modes - there is still going to be a need for yard space for ELECTRIC trains - MUs, or ALP powered - doesn't matter, but ALP powered trains are less flexible when it comes to yard and track space.

This is a logical reasoning however it is not quite as bad as you would think. Many of the additional trains that will come with the initial opening of the new tunnels will have an ALP-46 on either end of a 10 car consist. As such there won't be a need for that many more train sets to be stored. That being said, yard capacity will definitely become an issue eventually and need to be addressed.

To loosely quote Capt. Jack Aubrey from the movie Master and Commander: "NJT runs a railroad, not a private yacht! WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR DAMNED HOBBIES, SIR!"

northjerseybuff wrote:3. My own gut is, mount arlington will get weekend service when the first phase of the cutoff to Andover opens. I say this because Andover will be using the dual modes and it would fit in nicely..so how long? whenever andover opens..and thats in the plans now....

Who says that Andover service will be using the dual modes and why do you assume that Andover will get weekend service as soon as it opens?

Jtgshu wrote:Gotta look at it this way - straight electric operations are NOT going away, and are going to expand in the sense that they are getting more ALP46s, even if the entire diesel fleet were to be replaced by dual modes - there is still going to be a need for yard space for ELECTRIC trains - MUs, or ALP powered - doesn't matter, but ALP powered trains are less flexible when it comes to yard and track space.

This is a logical reasoning however it is not quite as bad as you would think. Many of the additional trains that will come with the initial opening of the new tunnels will have an ALP-46 on either end of a 10 car consist. As such there won't be a need for that many more train sets to be stored. That being said, yard capacity will definitely become an issue eventually and need to be addressed.

good point about the yard, but it is more flexible with the MUs as you can cut and make up different trains from one train set, like at County (and Morrisville, Hoboken, etc) each day. Thats what I meant by flexibility. Got a track that can fit 15 cars. Well you can put 15 MUs on there and get a bunch of trains of various sizes, but you can only get 1 10 car 2 motor set on that track, with a few cars worth of wasted space. Thats what I meant, sorry, I should have been more clear

10 car 2 motor sets huh - thats gonna be fun! ZZZZZZOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

On the RR, "believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see"John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.

Jtgshu wrote:Gotta look at it this way - straight electric operations are NOT going away, and are going to expand in the sense that they are getting more ALP46s, even if the entire diesel fleet were to be replaced by dual modes - there is still going to be a need for yard space for ELECTRIC trains - MUs, or ALP powered - doesn't matter, but ALP powered trains are less flexible when it comes to yard and track space.

An extension of the wire to Port Morris would allow for a MUCH needed increase in yard space for Electric Trains. Dover Yard is bursting at the seems, as are the other yards that host electric trains, Morrisville comes to mind - 18 plus yard tracks and it still hard to move in there.

I agree, Port Morris itself has space for even more tracks for storage. It's also where the crew facilities are. You'd probably have to build a new station at Lake Hopatcong, or a crew-only boarding platform in Port Morris itself.